When a terror suspect presumed dead was found alive years later

Investigation in the Hindu Munnani office bombing in 1995 reveals true bomber, Mustafa Rasadi, and involvement of Jihadi extremists.

April 14, 1995 was a busy day for members of the Hindu Munnani, a Hindu nationalist organisation. That evening, they were celebrating ‘Chithirai Thirunal’, or the Tamil New Year’s Day, at their headquarters at Chintadripet in Madras. Little did they know that a bomb had been planted on the premises where they had moved in only a fortnight ago. A powerful explosion ripped apart the building, leaving two persons dead, including a suspected bomber.

The explosion occurred two days after tension prevailed in the nearby Pudupet area following a clash between two groups resulting in police firing. Communal tension was in the air, especially in areas housing the establishments of the right-wing organisation that was launched by Rama Gopalan at the behest of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the 1980s.

Around 4 p.m. that day, some people in the office noticed an unclaimed bag in the narrow corridor leading to the first floor and started inquiring about it. An unidentified man just then barged in, brandishing a firearm, and lifted the bag. Even as they raised an alarm and ran into different rooms, the suspect activated the bomb.

The explosion was heard by R. Krishnamurthy, an office-bearer who was speaking on the phone from his residence with someone in the Hindu Munnani office. The impact of the blast was such that the heavily built suspect was tossed in the air, and his body landed on the balcony of a building across the road. Hindu Munnani Chennai district organising secretary ‘Bible’ Shanmugam was killed. Both the police and investigators of the Crime Branch-CID believed that the terror suspect was Khaja Nijamudeen of Melapalayam. After the Metro Unit of the CB-CID could not make much progress even two years after the explosion, the case was transferred to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in 1997.

It was at this juncture that a crucial input was shared by the Intelligence Wing of the Tamil Nadu police. C. Easwaramoorthy, a young Deputy Superintendent of Police, sent an alert that shocked the investigators. Citing credible sources, he said the body of the bomber was not that of Khaja Nijamudeen. Mr. Easwaramoorthy had gone on to serve the Intelligence Wing in various capacities for decades and retired a couple of years ago as the Additional Director-General of Police, Tamil Nadu Police Academy. Among other professional feats, police sources say, he had sent an alert to the Central intelligence agencies on the deadly 2019 Easter bombing in Sri Lanka.

The information passed on by Mr. Easwaramoorthy was corroborated when a terror suspect Erwadi Kasim told investigators during interrogation in a different case that one of his friends and expert bomb-maker Mustafa Rasadi of Thittuvilai in Kanniyakumari district had triggered the explosion at the Hindu Munnani office and died. This input confirmed that the bomber was Mustafa Rasadi and not Khaja Nijamudeen. Later, a tip-off was received by SIT chief and Inspector-General of Police Paramvir Singh that Khaja Nijamudeen was hiding in Mumbai. A team of the SIT, headed by Additional Superintendent of Police K.P. Shanmuga Rajeswaran, rushed to Mumbai and arrested him on October 22, 1999. Thus, the SIT established that the body found on the scene of explosion was not of Khaja Nijamudeen but of Mustafa Rasadi. Mr. Shanmuga Rajeswaran was later part of the Chennai police team that shot dead five suspected bank robbers at Velachery during 2012.

According to police sources, further investigation revealed the involvement of a few other extremists, including Imam Ali, who were all indoctrinated with the Jihadi ideology. Years later, Ali was shot dead along with four others in an encounter by the Tamil Nadu police in Karnataka.